Russia Could Grant Tax Advantages For Shtokman - Total Executive
May 27 2009 - 11:48AM
Dow Jones News
Russia could provide special tax arrangements for the consortium
planning to develop Russia's giant offshore Shtokman gas field, an
executive from energy major Total SA (TOT) said Wednesday.
Given that Shtokman is a "frontier project" and a major offshore
development that would "open a new oil province," it "appears quite
logical that there should be a dialogue on tax," Total's senior
vice-president for continental Europe and central Asia, Arnaud
Breuillac, told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference
in Paris.
A dialogue between the Shtokman joint venture and the Russian
authorities is underway, he said.
"It is not abnormal and certainly not unprecedented" for a
special system for taxing the project to be put in place, he said,
adding: "It is far too soon to say what it is."
-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 33 1 4017 1756;
adam.mitchell@dowjones.com